Don't Count Out Six-Man Players

Missed this the first time around, but a story aboutsix-man football on ESPN.com last fall included a mention about, and quote from, a former Dartmouth linebacker. Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is quoted in the story saying it's unlikely he'll give a scholarship to a six-man player. From the story:

"It's too hard to project them," Leach said. "They might look good, but it's harder to tell if they're playing against a good team or a bad team. You can't tell how they'd do with a lot more players on the field."

Such observations are frustrating to Lyle Campbell, who starred in six-man at Gordon in the late 1990s and became an honorable mention All-Ivy League linebacker at Dartmouth in 2003.

"Football is football," Campbell said. "Blocking. Tackling. If you have football instincts, you'll pick it up."

I remember being introduced to Lyle by then-Dartmouth assistant Pat O'Leary, who later told me that he didn't know quite where the Texan would play, only that he was such a good athlete he'd play somewhere. Turns out he was right.

Ever wonder what it's like for a high school kid waiting for his phone to ring with a scholarship offer while also weighing his Ivy League possibilities? The Milford Daily News in Massachusetts has an interesting piece about quarterback Dan Guadagnoli. From the story:

Guadagnoli reports that he is getting serious interest from schools such as UMass, Northeastern, the University of Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Lafeyette, Fordham and Maine. A National Honor Society student, Guadagnoli would love to play at Penn and receive the Ivy League education that comes along with it. But that decision won't be so cut and dry if a Northeastern or UMass offers him a full scholarship, something that Penn won't be able to do no matter how much the Quaker coaching staff wants him.

"You want to use sports to get you into the best possible position academically," said Guadagnoli. "But financially it becomes a problem. The (Colonial Athletic Association) schools can offer scholarships, but in the Patriot and Ivy League they can't. It puts you in a weird spot. ... It's definitely a family decision that has to be made.